He knew that voice. His eyes popped open and widened immediately when he saw the woman that was lying beside him.

"Sakura?" he said incredulously, "But you didn't come with me last night..."

She laughed. "What are you talking about? I live here!"

If at all possible, his eyes got even bigger. "What?"

The pink-haired woman shifted against him and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he realized her stomach was swollen... "Sa...Sakura...you're...you're pregnant?"

By now she was giggling uncontrollably, sitting up and revealing a pink nightgown that covered an extremely large belly. "You've known for quite a few months now..." she said, raising her eyebrows, "I didn't think you could forget so easily."

"But...I...uh...wha-"

A loud alarm pulled him out of his dream, and he automatically flung his hand over his head to cease the infernal racket. Letting out a sleepy groan, he cracked an eye open to make sure that he really had been dreaming before shifting under the covers and letting sleep overtake him again. What the hell was that...

His eyes opened again. Sakura. In his bed. Pregnant...supposedly with his child? Why was he dreaming of that! He was a shinobi...and shinobi didn't take wives. Kakashi had never thought of marrying, least of all a kunoichi. And a family! He'd never been a family man...no way.

He'd dated plenty of women in his youth, and not once had he been so drawn to one as he was to Sakura. She'd taken over his dreams, his fantasies...everything. He couldn't even read his Icha Icha books without imprinting her face over the features of every busty woman in his favorite series. She'd changed him drastically in just a couple weeks.

That's why he didn't want to save Sasuke.

He didn't want things to back the way they were.

And he was so afraid that they would.

----

Naruto let his head fall forward as he leaned back against the railing of the bridge, drool dripping from his mouth and making a soft splat on the wooden planks. Sakura looked over at him, making a face at the puddle by his feet. "When is he going to get here..." he groaned, closing his eyes. Sakura sympathized with him. They'd been waiting for just about a half hour now, and had both woken up an hour earlier to prepare for the mission. It killed her to know that their beloved ex-sensei was probably still in bed, snoozing with no cares in the world.

Thinking of him in bed brought a slight pink tinge to her cheeks. She'd wanted to be there with him...

"I could go check up on him if you want," she said, "Still got a key..."

Naruto nodded without looking up at her, his shock of blonde hair reflecting the sun right into her face. She squinted, bringing a hand up to her face, before walking away from him, her feet thumping on the bridge.

The quiet of the early morning left her to think more than she'd have liked to. They were going to get Sasuke...and she would have to let that bastard Orochimaru touch her again. No matter that he was in Sasuke's body, it was still the legendary senin that she would be tricking into letting her get close...and she would eventually have to seal him in. There would be no one to help her with the jutsu to trap Orochimaru; it would just be Sakura, working solo. She didn't know if she could handle something that would take so much power...but she was the only one that could do it.

She'd wanted to go with Kakashi the night before to help her relax...get up her strength.

She wanted to have had him at least once...just in case one of them didn't come back.

Sakura shook her head, scolding herself for thinking that. Sure it was Orochimaru they were dealing with, but Sasuke was in there too, and he wouldn't let the snake hurt any of them. When they got back...yeah, they had all the time in the world.

Relief took over when she got to Kakashi's apartment and put the key in the lock, twisting it quietly before opening the door and letting herself in. The place was eerily quiet...which she supposed it would be while he was asleep. She made her way to the bedroom swiftly, hoping to catch him by surprise, although she knew he had probably already detected her chakra.

She opened the door...

"Kakashi?"

The bed was empty, leaving only a pile of twisted blankets and a bedspread. She frowned. I guess he already left...must have just missed him.

But it seemed strange. He would've taken the same route to the bridge that she had used to get to the apartment. She walked back down the hall and into the kitchen, looking around. "Anyone home? Kakashi?"

"You should pay more attention."

A sharp gasp escaped her lips as an arm went around her shoulders and hot breath tickled her ear, but she quickly gave into the smile that snuck onto her face. "You are here..."

Kakashi kissed her jaw bone lightly and she suppressed a groan at the feeling of his lips on her skin. He let his lips linger at the back of her neck before he walked away from her, going into the kitchen and pouring himself some coffee. "Coffee?" he asked, looking over at her. She smiled at the face that had taken over her dreams, beginning to protest.

"Naruto..."

"Naruto can wait a little longer," he interrupted, pouring another cup of coffee and handing it to her without waiting for an answer. He leaned back against the counter top, slowly sipping the dark drink. "How was your night?"

She shrugged, blushing. "Well...it was lonely..."

He looked away from her abruptly. "Sakura..."

"Look, I'm not mad or anything," she said quickly, "I just...don't know why. And I've been thinking about it and wondering about it, and I just...OK, I'm a little upset that you won't give me a reason. Most men would be eager to jump in bed with me-"

"Sakura, I do want you!"

The kunoichi stared at him, startled. "Then...why?"

His eyes returned to hers and he put down his coffee cup then proceeded to pull up his mask. "I'll tell you when we get back, I promise," he said quietly, "But I don't think we need to get into a serious discussion right before such an important mission."

Sakura walked up to him, stopping him in the process of pulling his mask over his face, and pulled it back down below his chin again, bringing her face up to his and pressing her lips against his own. He slowly gave in to her chaste kiss, closing his eyes and opening his mouth to let his tongue probe her now familiar mouth. She took her time as she pulled away and opened her eyes, letting her green orbs gaze into his gray. "If one of us doesn't make it back...I mean, this is Orochimaru we're dealing with-"

"Don't think about that," he said, "I know I'm not." He turned away from her, leaving an absence of warmth from the front of her body, and pulled up his mask as he picked up his pack. "Let's go. The sooner we get done with this, the better..." She was following him out the door when he suddenly turned towards her, grabbing her arms. She stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?"

He stared at her for a minute before whispering intensely to her. "I do want you. Don't doubt it for a minute. And I plan on spending the night with you as soon as we get back."

Despite the strange situation, she smiled in excitement, leaning forward and finding his lips through his mask. "Good...now let's go get Naruto."

----

Naruto was asleep by the time they got back, passed out against the side of the bridge. Sakura shoved a foot into his side as the walked up, and he curled his legs into his chest, frowning. "Sakuraaaa..." he whined.

"Get up, lazy!" she said, "I want to get this mission over with!"

Kakashi gave her a quick look after she said that particular sentence, raising his eyebrows, and, unfortunately, Naruto caught it. "Hey...what's going on when we get back...hey, you guuuuuuuys!"

"Shut up, Naruto," Sakura said, glaring at the blonde. He clamped his mouth shut at the look she gave him and Kakashi chuckled quietly. Sakura grinned over at him.

The plan was to go back to the place that Sakura had been taken after she'd been kidnapped a few days ago. She remembered the general direction from the village, and they were all pretty sure that if she returned there and said she was looking for Sasuke, they would find Orochimaru in no time. Sakura was putting on a brave face to appease Naruto, but Kakashi was still extremely worried about her...he knew that she was a strong and talented jounin now, but he hoped that this wouldn't be too much for her. She was about to seal one of the legendary senin...granted, Orochimaru was weakened by Sasuke's still fighting soul, but it would use a great deal of chakra for Sakura to complete the mission. And Kakashi didn't want her getting hurt.

More than anything, though, he was worried about her feelings.

He cursed himself for being more concerned for himself, but he didn't know how he'd react if her feelings for Sasuke resurfaced. The younger man had saved her from Orochimaru, and probably would again. Even if it had been the Uchiha's body that had violated Sakura, he had resisted Orochimaru's will with all the strength he could find. Kakashi hoped that it wasn't enough to win back her heart.

They sped through the forest swiftly and silently, Sakura in the lead. Kakashi and Naruto were not to be seen, as they were only there for support if Sakura needed it. She was the leader for this mission - it couldn't be completed without her.

"You guys should let me go on alone now," she whispered as she came to a halt. Kakashi and Naruto walked up behind her, nodding.

She turned towards Kakashi. "I..." Naruto made a noise behind her and she stopped.

Naruto coughed and they pulled apart quickly, Sakura flashing them a quick smile before speeding off ahead of them. Kakashi jumped into a nearby tree and hid himself in the leaves, making sure his hair didn't stand out too much, as Naruto did the same.

"There's nothing you can do about this..." Kakashi told Naruto, amused, "What bothers you so much?"

Naruto glared. "Well...you're our teacher, that's what!"

Kakashi put a finger to his lips, listening to something intently, and Naruto tuned his senses into the sound as well.

"Nobody came with me," she said firmly, hiding her fear. Her hand shook involuntarily and she stilled it hastily, swallowing the lump in her throat. "If there's anyone here they must have followed me...I've come for Sasuke."

A strangled "why" escaped from the man's throat, but Orochimaru quickly covered it up. "Have you now? I knew it would be too much for you to resisst..." He touched a set of cold fingers to the very place that Kakashi's warm hand had been just a few minutes earlier. "If they shinobi are not with you, then you can come with me." His hands shot out and suddenly were around her throat, cutting off her breath. She pulled her hands up weakly, trying to pry his hands off, but he held on effortlessly as he called out to Kakashi and Naruto. "If you come after me, I'll kill her! Do not follow!"

Sakura couldn't do anything as he leapt into the trees, almost slithering through the branches. She felt Kakashi's and Naruto's warm auras quickly slipping away.

They'd stayed behind.

She was alone.

----

Naruto growled angrily as Kakashi put a hand out to stop him while they watched Sakura and Sasuke disappear into the thick foliage. The blonde turned towards the copy ninja, his blue eyes menacing. "Why aren't we going after her!" he hissed, out of control. Kakashi looked towards him, just a hint of worry in his usually emotionless gray eye.

"I used a tracking jutsu when we touched before she left us...I know where she is now."

"Then let's go after her!"

Kakashi frowned, aggravation creeping into his voice. "We can't, Naruto! He said he would kill her if we followed, and he meant it. If we go after them now, she'll be dead before we can even see her again."

"So what do we do?"

"Well...we trust her. And we wait."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Just like that! You're just going to let her go off on her own? What if she doesn't come back?"

The intensity was in his tone as Kakashi replied. "There's nothing else we can do."

"But-"

"Quiet, Naruto!"

The blonde looked at him in surprise, stunned by the emotion he'd just shown. Kakashi had never been one to express his feelings, and Naruto had just felt a wave of anger straight from the older man. "You're not the one who's fallen in love with her, now are you? Think of how hard it is for me!" His jaw was clenched under his mask, Naruto could easily tell.

"Uh...sorry."

"We'll wait. And hope."

"Yeah."

The two men settled into the trees, and Naruto watched for a sign of an Icha Icha book for a few minutes before relaxing a little and turning back towards where Sakura and Sasuke had headed.

The little orange book never appeared in Kakashi's clenched fists.

----

Sakura looked around as Orochimaru placed her on the ground, grabbing her wrist and pulling her roughly into a large cave. A few sound shinobi stood guard, but other than that the place was empty. She was thrown into a chair and she adjusted herself to where she was sitting straight up, eyes fixed on Orochimaru.

"Why are you really here?" he demanded.

"I told you, I'm here for Sasuke," she said firmly, "I saw that glimpse of him a few days ago...and I just felt like I had to see him again." She was putting on an act; really the only person on her mind was a certain silver-haired ninja. "I just...I still love you Sasuke!"

She'd just realized what an idiot she'd been as a child. Always chasing after him when he'd rather have been left alone...fighting for his attention. She should have left him to stupid Ino and been done with it.

Orochimaru laughed sinisterly, contrary to the pained expression on his face. Sasuke was showing through the facade that the senin had put up. "Girl, you are a fool...I didn't even have to do anything. You came right to me."

"So what did you want with me anyway?" she asked, suddenly feeling brave. I'm going to get this sick son-of-a-bitch...

"I wanted to use you to break the Uchiha boy," Orochimaru told her. Well, this was news to her. "He still cares for the lovely Sakura...and he's not relinquishing his hold on his body, even though I helped him kill his dear brother. I thought that if I could use these hands..." He brought up Sasuke's hands and stared at them, flexing his fingers experimentally. "...to violate the woman he loves...hurt her in ways that he would never dream...maybe he would get to the point where he couldn't hold on any longer. Weakened enough to where I could take over."

Sakura frowned honestly, and her words went along the same lines. "Sasuke would never be that weak, you bastard."

Orochimaru just laughed, leaning closer to her. "You're wrong. He will fail. And then I can return to the Village of the Hidden Leaf...and nobody will be able to stop me."

He turned towards the three guards, motioning at them to leave. "Two Hidden Leaf shinobi are hiding a few miles north of here. Find them. Kill them."

Sakura's eyes widened. "No!" she said, her eyes going from the monster in Sasuke's body to the sound nin as they took off the way she'd come from. "You can't..."

"I can," he said mirthfully, his tongue flicking out and brushing against his lips. "Now..." His eyes turned red and Sakura tried unsuccessfully to avert her gaze. "Look into my eyes."

----

"Uh...Kakashi?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Sorry for all the stuff I said earlier."

Kakashi looked up at the younger man in surprise; the blonde was obviously having a hard time apologizing. "No need," he said calmly, "It's first instinct to go after her, I know. It's just not the wisest decision. I thought you would know that...you're a jounin, after all."

Naruto shrugged. "But it's Sakura."

Kakashi just nodded, looking back in the direction Sakura had vanished. It had been about a half hour since she'd disappeared...and he was already extremely worried. She was alone with that monster, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"What do you think she's doing now?"

Kakashi gritted his teeth. "I'm trying not to think about it."

"Oh." Naruto looked away, his face turning red. His former sensei had never been so touchy...but Naruto didn't think he'd ever seen the older man romantically involved before. This was a completely different side to the copy ninja.

A rustle in the bushes caught his attention and his head snapped towards it silently, his ears taking in the sound. Some birds flew from one particular area and Naruto turned towards Kakashi. "You hear that?"

Both men jumped out of the way just as a dozen shuriken nestled themselves into the tree trunk where they had just been sitting. Naruto watched intently as a figure all in black ran stealthily through the underbrush after hurling the weapons at them. "Lower level nin..." he whispered to Kakashi, "They don't know anything about stealth."

Kakashi smiled. "Seems like Jiraiya taught you well."

Another group of shuriken seemed to fly out of nowhere, and both men dodged again. "Three of them," Kakashi said, using his gray eye to point out where they were, "There, there, and there."

Naruto nodded before standing up straight and making a hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!"

A few dozen replicas of the younger man suddenly appeared, and Kakashi nodded. "That should do the trick. I'll take care of the one over there." He made sure Naruto acknowledged him before he zipped off towards the one who had been hurling the shuriken.

He was forced to dodge a couple more attacks before he found the hidden shinobi, landing a solid punch in the anonymous ninja's face. The younger man flew backwards, immediately pulling himself onto his elbows and backing away from Kakashi. "No way...he didn't say we would be facing you..."

"The famous copy nin..." Kakashi finished for him, feigning boredom. He was at the man's throat in an instant, pulling him up by his collar. "Who sent you?"

He didn't need an answer; the headband was answer enough. "So he really didn't realize it was me out here? I'm surprised he didn't sense my chakra...Orochimaru really has gotten weaker. What's he done with the girl?"

"Nothing, as far as I know," the sound nin responded, gulping, "He said he was going to use her to break the Uchiha...he's been planning for weeks."

"Thank you," Kakashi said, pulling a kunai from its holster and quickly plunging it into the man's stomach. "Sorry."

Naruto was there quickly after, wiping off his hands on his pants. "They were weak," he said shortly, "Orochimaru must know that it's us following Sakura."

Kakashi nodded, "Either that or he's out of resources," he replied. He looked around before going back to his previous spot in the tree and pulling the enemy shuriken from the tree, putting them in his bag.

"More waiting."

"It's all we can do. If I sense her moving back towards us, we'll go to her."

"OK."

----

Sakura visibly winced as Orochimaru's long, serpentine tongue flicked out and across her cheek, lingering long enough to severely creep her out. "You taste like another man..." he said, chuckling, "You hear that, Uchiha? She doesn't even care about you anymore."

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't care," she said quickly, doing her best not to get up right then and run. No matter how much she wanted to go...she had to stay strong. For Sasuke. And for herself.

Sakura watched as his face quickly changed expression, though his hands crept up into the hem of her shirt, feeling along her abs. She tried to push the memories of the rape to the back of her mind and focus on the task at hand. "Sakura...you idiot, why did you come here?" Sasuke's familiar voice said.

She looked into his Sharingan eyes, helpless to turn away. "I...I had to help you, Sasuke."

Did that mean he'd cared all that time? If he wanted her now...did it mean that he'd loved her all those years ago? Did she really have the much of an effect on the enigmatic boy?

"You can't help me, Sakura...and now you'll die with me...damn it..."

His face came forward and his lips pressed against hers, his tongue roughly invading her mouth. She kept her eyes locked onto his, his brow creased in anger and sadness.

He didn't notice as her hands slowly came up and started to perform hand signs.

She closed her eyes and moaned, trying to pretend to give into the moment, and Sasuke's hands roughly pushed farther up into her shirt, moving the red fabric away and tracing over the wrappings that bound her breasts. She took a quick glance to see that his eyes were closed too now, and she put her hands on his neck as if in the heat of passion.

He instantly drew back, screaming. Sakura resisted the urge to cover her ears as she focused her chakra into Sasuke's body. "You bitch...you...you..."

She smiled triumphantly. "You're mine."

One last scream left Sasuke slumped on the ground, panting heavily, and Sakura was in much the same state. She looked over at the dark-haired man anxiously, nervous about whether the sealing jutsu had worked or not. If it hadn't...she was done for. She knew that Kakashi and Naruto were both miles away, unable to help her.

"Sakura..." Sasuke's voice choked out.

She let herself slide to the floor, crawling over to her childhood crush weakly. "Sasuke...is that you?"

The man drew his hand up to his shoulder and ran it over the spiral that had just been burned into his skin like a brand. Sakura looked up to see that it still glowed an icy blue. "Sakura...thank you."

They both collapsed on the ground, unable to function anymore.

----

Kakashi deemed it necessary to go after Sakura when he felt a sudden weakening in her chakra. He figured she'd done the deed by now...and if not, she was dead.

Naruto anxiously followed him as he tracked Sakura, speeding through the dense forest. "Do you think she's alright?"

"I don't think she's dead," Kakashi replied, "But she's very weak. We'll need to get her back to Konoha for treatment as soon as possible."

They ended up at a large cave. Birds sang all around, and hitched breathing echoed out of the darkness. Kakashi flashed back to the nightmare he'd had of Sakura and Sasuke together, but he forced it to the back of his mind as he walked inside, still in front of Naruto.

"Kami..." Naruto muttered, running over to the two bodies on the floor.

The seal that Sakura had obviously placed on Sasuke still glowed brightly on his shoulder, and Kakashi guessed that it had been very painful. Sakura was slumped on the ground near him, and Kakashi hastily walked over to her, picking her up and cradling her head against his chest. "Sakura...Sakura, are you alright?"

She tossed her head to the side groggily. "The seal...did it..."

"Yes, it worked," he said soothingly, looking over at the two other men. Naruto was helping Sasuke off of the ground, and Kakashi noticed that the snake-like features he'd gained were already fading away. "You got Sasuke back, Sakura."

She smiled weakly before closing her eyes again, and the copy nin could tell that she was passed out. "Let's get them out of here," he said quietly, "I'm sure the Hokage will want to take a look at them both."

Naruto nodded, and they both jumped into the trees, careful with their charges.

The blonde felt a swell of happiness in his heart at the notion of their team together again, while Kakashi felt a sense of impending doom.

It was over.

Sasuke was back.

And he was all she cared about again.

----

A/N: Alright...you should be getting the next chapter sooner than it took me to update for this one...sorry about that. I've got the next one planned, and I really, REALLY didn't want to write the mission. I'm no good at action.

Anywayssss...please review! Poor Kakashi...what if Sakura ends up choosing Sasuke. And Kakashi still loves her forever? I'll let you guess...mwahaha...yay for cliffies...